I opened the box that it was shipped in, and I wasn't quite sure of what to think. And after I had got all the pieces out of the box I was mildly impressed. But as I filled them up with water, as you can use either sand or water. Upon reading the reviews from other's I decided to go with water. Much easier to fill them. And I unscrewed the handle's. Which by the way are Awesome and very useful, as you may need to maneuver them into position. And I absolutely love this setup. I am not sure if the stand base goes with my umbrella. Because there is the metal stand from my umbrella showing?! Not exactly sure if it is meant to be like that. But after I set it all up ! A storm came in... and I was a little worried about it holding up! And guess what? It's still up and the stand is Awesome!! So I would have to say that I would absolutely recommend this base. It's not going anywhere anytime soon.. and very very happy that I did my research and chose this item.